Part of Luisita now titled to gov’t

Some 4,000 hectares of the expansive estate owned by President Benigno Aquino’s family in Tarlac have been titled to the government to pave the way for land distribution, which farm workers said should take place before Mr. Aquino’s State of the Nation Address (Sona) if his administration doesn’t want to face protests. DAR Secretary Virgilio de los Reyes, in a phone interview on Wednesday, said the revalidation of a survey done on Hacienda Luisita, the estate owned by the Cojuangco family, is delaying actual distribution. He said, however, that the Land Registration Authority has titled the 4,000 ha marked for distribution to the government.